now, you have been in that community for several hours now, this is a tight-knit community, we can only imagine the fear for the families that have yet to reunite with their children. >> that's right, david, tight-knit, working-class community, you can't imagine what's going through, you know, people's hearts and their minds. i mean, even if you weren't directly involved you're going to know somebody who was, you're going to feel for someone who was. this is going to be a very, very painful place for people. yes, the scene of the hospital is one of abject grief. nurses krielg in hallways. and as i said before, inkoll sabl and heartbroken because they weren't able to treat more people. not able to do more for the

children in that school, the faculty and the staff. no question about it. very, very painful, very difficult place to be. we're expecting a news conference here in the next hour or so. hopefully, we'll have details and maybe we'll have some good news, some good news to bring you about the conditions of the three people who were brought here to the hospital. >> it would be welcomed on an afternoon that this is playing out in front of america. it's 2:02. we're going to take a quick break and reset for the country. for many of the viewers tuning in, around 9:30, the first calls came in. that there had been a shooting at sandy hook elementary school. it takes 45 minutes to get there from new york.

we're told at this hour that there are at least 27 dead. the shooter believed to be carrying four weapons. 24 years old. was wearing a bulletproof vest entered the school and began firing. that shooter is deceased. we don't know if there was more than one shooter involved. we certainly don't know too early to say what could have been the motive for such a heinous crime and to put this into perspective, what you're watching unfold today will be the deadliest shooting at an elementary school in america history, the second deadliest shooting behind virginia tech, as you remember, we all followed that closely. more than a dozen shot and killed in columbine.

but today, the numbers are simply staggering. at least 27 shot and killed. and many of the victims are children. i was struck by the description earlier, simply reminding us of what we all know as we take the kids to school, schools are often made up long hallways with classroom doors. unfortunately, that's the entrance to the classroom. if you have a suspect that approaches that classroom door as perhaps was the case today there is just very little other than asking the children to perhaps dive under their desks. we do know that parents telling us earlier in our live coverage of this incident that the teachers were extraordinarily calm in taking these children out of the school. kids were told to cover their eyes. they were also told to grab a friend and leave all of your belongings behind. look at this.

their faces say it all. and if you noticed which i certainly did early, none of them have their coats on as they walk out of that school and look at those adults in that frame, intent on getting those children to that neighboring fire house there in sandy hook. there's a volunteer fire house just adjacent to that school and that is where teachers were told to take the children just as soon as they could and perhaps in a sign of the times, lot of these parents got a reverse text alert on their cell phones, and initially it didn't even say the name of the school is what my understanding is from the reporting here today. so, you could only imagine as parents waiting to hear if it was their school. they received a reverse 911 text. technology that alerts us if our children are in danger now in america. they were told to go to that fire house. security at schools in america, as you know, it's

almost impossible to lock up these elementary schools in america or middle schools or high schools, it would simply be overwhelming to do. i know from my own experience, as you walk into the front door, they'll guide you to the office, you have to sign in and many schools have a pass and there are hall monitors, sometimes security to make sure there's no one suspicious to enter school. to have a school in lockdown after incidents like this is almost an unattainable goal to have and not one that we have in america. i'm just getting word from one of our other affiliates wtnh, speaking to a 17-year-old, he has a fourth grader in the

elementary school, they have been reunited. i wanted to take a listen here and we'll talk here on the backside. >> my whole life was my sister was just replaying through my head. i was saying to myself, i'm sorry to whatever i did. it was very traumatizintraumati. truthfully, i had to be calmed by other people. other people were coming up to me, they were hugging me. my mom was crying her eyes out. >> numbers of students have lost their lives, what do you think about this, this is happening quite a bit lately? >> it's a growing trend. i feel like, you know, i feel like there are certain len yensies in terms of lawyers permitting this to happen. >> we talked to a parent earlier, when you and your mom go to the school to pick up your

sister any given day, is it easy to get in and out of the school, do they check your i.d.? >> they don't check i.d. again, there are regulations and you know, i'm not sure if that's a fair comparison, this guy came in with a gun, it's not comparable to say, this children left the school. a guy coming with a gun is totally different. >> something that's completely unexpected for this area. >> literally the worst crime we have here is, we don't have even crime. the worst i have heard here is some thefts of cars. >> you're here right now because you want answers. >> absolutely. i was one of the first ones there. it's truly disgusting what's happening. >> truly disgusting what's happening. that from a 17-year-old boy who was reunited with his little sister in the fourth grader.

one of the many children. 500 children believed go to this elementary school. clutching one another, as their teachers brought them to safety at the fire house. wtnh joining us coverage. i want to bring in dr. richard besser, the children leaving the school, there were reports of cries and tears but no overdict screaming, they were very calm and it was the 17-year-old a moment ago who said that he had to be calmed down by people on the scene that his mother had to be calmed down, it's the adults in this situation, the older students who know the scope of this is going to be extraordinary to help them deal it with first to then help the younger members of their families who survived this ordeal. >> david, i think you're right on track. how people react to this will

depend on a lot on their age, their level of development and how much they're exposed to this. very young children, may not be able to comprehend this, children under 7, to use a cutoff, don't let them hear the reports. try not let them see the coverage of this on tell vix. that repeated exposure can be quite traumatic. you have to look at the age of the child and deal with them. knowing your can clield is very, very important. >> knowing your child is very, very important. i'm not sure rich is still with us. >> when you look at those children who are school aged, 7 to teenaged years, they'll be looking to see how you respond to this. are you able to express your

angry and your sadness over t s this. that's very important. asking them how they're feeling is very important. but giving them the overall sense that this is a very bad thing that happened, your job as a parent is to keep them safe and that they're safe. the teenagers, you want to engage in a conversation, you want to get a sense of why they think this happened. and try to them engage in a conversation, so they can begin to process this. >> to reassure them. one of the things that we have continued to point out this morning, tuning into our breaking news coverage on this horrific shooting in newtown, connecticut, if you have children in the room, this is certainly not something they need to carry on their young

shoulders as we learn more and more about what played out here in newtown, connecticut. i want to bring in former fbi profiler brad garrett. brad, we bring you in when tragedies like this play out. right now as it stands, state police confirming that the shooter went inside, believed to have had four weapons, had a vest on, one mother said a mask, and as always the case, we ask ourselves, what on earth would lead someone to do something like this? >> to the cliff, i have lost power, it could be something that he had a child in the school, he had a domestic dispute. driven this person right up to i have lost complete control of my life and i don't care anymore. as difficult for people to

understand this, this is how they empower themselves, whether it be a few days ago in portland, oregon, or aurora, colorado, they put on an outfit, i'm going to call it a costume, because they're playing a different character, they're going in there and they don't view these children or the adults as human beings, they view them as the enemy, as people who have wronged them for whatever reason and they're going to seek revenge. unfortunately, this guy created tremendous, tremendous tragedy. >> but how could someone look at children, innocent children of this age as being the enemy? >> because, they don't look at it as a child. they look at it as they can take control of the situation, and they can start killing people and that's all they think about. i understand what you're saying. one thing to shoot 30-year-old

document, it's another thing to shoot a 7-year-old. but they don't care. they have completely lost their touch, their empathy, their caring for anyone. it's all about me, it's all about me getting my feelings out. that's really what's gone on with these shooters. you got somebody older, most schoolteachers tend to be students that go back, but this was an older person, was he wronged by the school? one thing that the investigators will look at, is there a bigger agenda here? >> brad, as always the case, you help us wrap our heads around something that's simply unfathomab unfathomable.

this is the school shooting that began this morning with a call shortly after 9:30. the fear was, that this was going to be something big. historic in fact in nature. the worst shooting at an elementary school in this country, ever, at least 27 shot and killed. we believe many of them are children, the shooter, at least one shooter, the shooter inside the building confirmed is dead. brad tried to describe what could happen in someone's life that lead them to committing such a heinous act. i want to bring in n.j. burkett. we just got word of the school security policy. a letter went out to all parents in that school district. not long ago, in fact, they updated their security policy. this isn't going to sound unlike any other security, every visitor will ring the bell.

visitors will be required to report to the office and signed in. which we presumed was the case. so often the procedure in schools across the country right now. as that 17-year-old put it moments ago, this man was armed, it makes it almost impossible to follow procedure, but what's going to be frightening for these parents, the rules had been followed and for some time now at this school. >> well, that's right, david. you have to imagine what their reaction is going to be as this whole story unfolds as facts come out. several hours later, we're starting to learn about what policies were in place. what policies may have been followed. in a lot of urban schools in america, a lot of urban schools in america, there are metal detectors, but in a place like this, you don't see those metal

detectors. you don't see those kind of security measures, lot of the security measures go back to that horrific school shooting in dunblane, scotland, that traumatized people there and this would be appear to be from what we're hearing and seeing, dunblane times two. it's absolutely horrific. i described the scene inside the hospital, danbury hospital, where three of the victims were taken. we haven't been able to confirm the conditions of those victims. we're hoping to know more shortly. but, the scene inside the hospital is just one of as i described it as abject grief, nurses crying in the hallways, people, even patients here incolosable trying to wrap their

minds around this. how evil do you have to be to do something like this. >> that in fact is the big question. we'll have dais to figure that out. n.j., one thing that stopped us in our tracks, you're at danbury hospital, that was the designated triage center for this tragedy as it unfolded today but what's different about the tragedy today so often, you see the gurneys being rushed in with the injured, the number that you offered, only three made it to the hospital would say perhaps a lot of what unfolded at that school. >> well, without question. and you know, the people here, the doctors, the nurses, the staff were hoping they would be able to treat more people, they only got to treat three people and although it's a different scale, it's a different situation, but it was

reminiscent to us that covered 9/11 of the scenes outside hospitals in new york city where the doctors and the nurses were waiting for patients who never came. and that's what we're seeing here. >> n.j., i know that you're reporting 24 hours now for channel 7 here in new york. we appreciate you taking time to talk with us. for those of you who are watching from other parts of the country, an idea of where this school is, it's newtown, connecticut, 60 miles northeast of new york city, a 45-minute drive or an hour at the most if traffic is good. as we pull out, you can see the town. that's the hospital where n.j. was reporting just moments ago. not far from the school. when the initial call went out, they thought they would be treating a lot of injuries.

so far, only three people have been brought to the hospital and while you don't want anyone end up in the hospital, the hope as this began unfold, the hope that many made it to the hospital. the number is simply staggering. at least 27 dead. that's the latest number that we have. we know many of them are children. we know parents are on the scene. most of the parents whose children made it out have already been reunited. you can see an adult with three children walking out there. children holding hands. doing what they were told and doing what they were supposed to do at the time of the morning. school was under way. in that small, picturesque town. then they saw this, authorities

with guns drawn as they went car to car looking for evidence. initially looking for anybody else who white have been involved. this is the scene. ambulances there. and they were hoping to be able to help more people. but as we know now, there are many victims inside that school. and it's believed those victims include staff and students. perhaps some teachers who were in their classrooms. as we described the layout. on a friday morning, in their classroom, usually just one door in, and if that gunman, that suspect approached that door, there is not a lot that a teacher can do although teachers in this school today who were able to do something acted with bravery and with courage as you watch them walk out and you could see it on their faces even in the still images, children

without their coats. there's a fire house around the corner. and that's where they brought the children. can you imagine the task of getting 500 children out of the school? not knowing if the incident had ended and if the scene was secured? i want to bring in pierre thomas, our senior jos correspondent. pierre, we know that very early on, the president was notified. jake tapper is in the briefing room. but in the meantime, take us through how the president is briefed, how quickly this information is getting to him and we know the governor of connecticut now briefing the parents. >> the way this unfolded the fbi, you know, they have local offices throughout the country, the local fbi office was notified about the shooting, they sent personnel to the

scene, then that information made its way to the fbi director. the fbi director than informed the president of the scale of the event and how horrific it was and that's how we understand this went down. we're also getting some additional information about the shooter in this case. we are being told that he's an identified as a 24-year-old. we'll be gathering more information to give to our viewers as we get more detail. >> pierre, i have been handed some information that's been sent out for our viewers, we have an internal e-mail system that we brief each other and our unit is telling us that this was a 24-year-old man who obviously federal authorities are trying to investigate, to determine whether or not he was related to some way to someone in that school. >> i have multiple sources telling me that same

information. 24-year-old has emerged as the leading scht as the person they believe did the shooting. he's thought to have had an relationship with someone at the school. this is very fluid situation. they're doing a search at the man's home. we hope to have some more information about that shortly. brad garrett a former fbi profiler, he's an abc news analyst, he's coming to our washington bureau today, he was trying to help us figure out some reasoning why someone would do this. we often point to illness after cases like this. i was struck by the age, 24 years old. columbine, virginia tech, they were students at those particular schools involved. but this was an elementary school. when you hear 24 years old, you immediately think, this is a

little different from what we have seen. >> that's correct. david, as we talked about earlier, what's the connection between the shooter with the school? if there's a child, shooter's child, connected to the shooter some way, one quick scenario, if this involves a domestic situation, he lost custody of this children, in murders of children by the fathers, it's mainly driven many times by wanting to kill the mother and the children because they believe the mother produced this child and no one else is going to have this child i'm going to take this child out. now, what would you do that and kill aother children? the real motive of this, we're going to look at this and go, how in the world could you kiln anybody based on what you're telling me?

but once you reach a point where nothing else is going to resolve your situation, and the anger and rage are so great toward perhaps another adult, perhaps toward a child at the school, then you go into this mode where, as i mentioned earlier, you're not killing human beings you're just inflicting rage. and with that rage, you feel more powerful at least for the moment and that's why so many of these shooters they shoot themselves or police shoot them at the end of the ram page. >> we're waiting to hear all this ended. the gunman inside the school is dead. believed to have been carrying four weapons. one mother we talked to earlier described the gunman inside the building as having a mask on as this gunman went through the building.

and obviously, we'll also be learning more about the path the gunman took to help us determine perhaps why this school, why this particulars classroom, i want to check in with dan harris. who's been there for hours on the scene. he was at that fire house where those reunions were taking place. dan, i can only imagine the scene between the governor dan malloy there in connecticut and the parents waiting to hear. >> it's got to be a wrenching job that the governor has in front of him right now. we have seen him briefly, we saw him leaving the fire house and we saw him coming back. we know as his spokesperson said earlier, he has been speaking with the parents. that's what's taking place right now. this is the volunteer fire house right down this street. sandy hook elementary school.

right down this street is where the elementary school is. the students were rushed out of the school and brought to this fire station. parents coming here to reunite with their children. one of the most poignant things that we have seen today, one of the horrifying things, parents, married couples leaving here arm in arm without their children. one can simply use basic logic to deduce perhaps they lost their child. there will be more than 20 parents who get terrible, terrible news today as this unfolds. and the governor is doing some of that hard work right now. one presumes. the other thing that we're seeing here today ambulances leaving the school without their lights on, as you discussed, they would much rather taking the wounded to the hospital

instead of simply dealing with the dead, which is what it appears they're doing right now. >> dan, you're standing about an hour from the studio here in new york. we were standing out in the hall, discussing as you were on the way out, we never know when we leave for these stories, how it will unfold. the numbers are simply staggering. i want to bring people up to date. at 2:30 eastern, at least 27 shot and killed, many of them children that's dan harris at the scene who's been there all morning long. the aerial views, the ambulances pulling up, as dan pointed out, pulling out without their sirens. we have seen gurneys, injured victims leaving these schools, these incidents across america and in this case one of the main differences is, as of right now,

we only know of three people being treated at a local hospital which would leave you to premum, the other people inside that school who were targeted didn't make it out of the school. that number, more than two dozen people inside that school is simply quite frankly that we'll have to get our head around. the worst school shooting at an elementary school. to imagine the ages of these children, these young faces inside these class rooms and the horror that they went through this morning, and one of the things that we struck by as we have been reporting this throughout the afternoon here, as your watching abc news live coverage, the reaction of the children and you juxtapose it with the adults, we heard from one 17-year-old boy who said i needed calming down myself. we heard him say that